Learning Versus Teaching The Home-Schooling Movement free essay sample

A thorough and in-depth study into home-schooling as a viable alternative to Americas public education system. An extensive study of home-schooling, evaluating this form of education with a positive outlook based on a large body of evidence including standardized test scores, collegiate performance and expert opinions. The paper explores education theories and the history of public education in America. The author of the paper offers conclusive and thought-provoking arguments in favor of home-schooling. For years, reform within the public, mandatory educational system was viewed by most as the only option for improving education. Now, we have seen the advent of the home schooling movement, a response to educational reform involving complete renunciation of the public school system, and home schooling has received increasing media coverage. Yet the idea of teaching children at home is not a new one. Shaw and others saw the advantages of home schooling over a century ago. We will write a custom essay sample on Learning Versus Teaching: The Home-Schooling Movement or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page My schooling [] prevented me from being educated to such an extent, he wrote, which infuriates me to think of all I might have learned at home by myself (quoted by Libertarian). In his time, the idea of keeping a child at home, instead of sending them to school, was entertained by only a few radical thinkers, but it is now a viable option for American families, legal in all fifty states (Callaway 6). Given this newfound freedom, we should explore the possibility that home schooling is a superior approach to learning, with better long-term results, than public education just as the intellectual elite of Shaws day suggested.

How to Become President of the United States

How to Become President of the United States With the primary election coming to an end, only two candidates (if you’re not counting the independent candidates) will remain. While that seems simple enough, the path to becoming the President of the United States can be rather confusing and difficult to understand. After all, our system involves us voting for who we want as our leader, but we technically vote for representatives who then vote for the person we want as our leader, in which the representatives don’t always abide by the wishes of the voter. Make sense? No? Yeah, it’s pretty  convoluted but to make things easier to digest, we’ve compiled a very short and basic infographic on what it takes to become the President of the United States.

Families Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Families - Essay Example Whereas fifty years ago divorce was rare, and homosexuality invisible, nowadays these features are common in society. If individuals want to create their own type of family according to their own values and ideals, then there is an opportunity to explore this in new ways. There is conflict between restrictive but stable traditional models, and freer but potentially less stable modern alternatives. Immigrant families have the benefit of at least two cultural heritages, and this enriches their life experience. It can also cause tensions when adapting to new contexts and sometimes clashes with expectations of the culture of origin. Often children feel caught between the old and the new, and it takes generations for families to be fully at ease in both cultures. Another advantage of immigrant families is that people often have the opportunity to speak more than one language. This has useful career implications but above all it enables people to see the world more openly and be accepting of differences without judging one or the other. White American families who only speak English are at a disadvantage because they are tempted to hold narrow views, and find it harder to think in concepts outside their own ethnic group norms. Latinos, African Americans, Asians and other minority groups in America can suffer prejudice and misunderstanding which adds stress to their lives. Families who find themselves victims of racism will stick together more closely, but there are disadvantages in accessing full citizenship benefits if resentment builds up inside the family and opportunities are blocked in society outside the family. This can be a vicious circle which is hard to break. Similar scenarios can develop within gay and lesbian families. Multi-generational families are the norm in some societies, notably African and Asian

The Representation of Mosquitoes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Representation of Mosquitoes - Assignment Example Consequently, a select species of mosquitoes survive the effects of the pesticide. Certain mosquitoes are likely to survive the effects of pesticide due to a selective advantage. This selective advantage results in a greater resistance to the genes of certain mosquitoes. As a result, they are able to survive the effects of a pesticide spray as other mosquitoes die. The mosquitoes that are able to survive the effects of the pesticide possess a genetic resistance to the pesticide. As the mosquitoes achieve maturity, they reproduce and transfer the genetic resistance to the subsequent generation. In the process, the new generation acquires an increase in the number of alleles that develop further resistance to the pesticide within the population. A systematic and continuous application of the selective pressure against the pesticide results in a mutual resistance against the pesticide within the mosquito population. Examples of organisms that became extinct before the adaptive radiation are the prehistoric non- avian dinosaurs that were replaced by mammals during the end period of Cretacious. Adaptive radiation refers to a fast evolutionary radiation fuelled by natural selection that is synonymous with an addition of the ecological and morphological diversity of one rapidly changing lineage. It occurs right after extinction since the phenotypes of a new species adapt in conformance to the environment. Consequently, new traits that are beneficial are increasingly evident. The sun acts as a source of energy that is transferred to the producers such as plants. However, the energy is lost through heat. As a result, 10% of the energy from the producers is transferred to primary consumers such as deer, zebras, and other herbivores. As energy is transferred across the trophic levels through consumption, there is a consistent loss of approximately 10%.

Business Intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Intelligence - Essay Example Howard Dresner, a Research Fellow at Gartner Group in 1989, established the term "Business Intelligence", to describe a set of concepts and methods to improve business decision-making by using fact-based support systems. In "Business Intelligence: The Savvy Manager's Guide" David Loshin describes the basic architectural components of a business intelligence environment, ranging from traditional topics such as business process modeling, data modeling, and more modern topics such as business rule systems, data profiling, information compliance and data quality, data warehousing, and data mining. David Loshin has described Business Intelligence on the basis of Data Models, Data Standards. He has also extensively appreciated the use of XML as a framework that is gaining in popularity for developing data standards. While XML is not used to prescribe a standard; it is used to define standards for the exchange of information through conforming documents. Data values in an XML document are surrounded by tags (labels), that identify where the data content begins and ends. "To leverage business intelligence, business users need to understand the value of business intelligence and how it can help them. One of the more popular tables: promoting BI to increase adoption. It was simple, soft selling - business intelligence is value added and not obviously essential to many users. It requires a more proactive, promotional approach. Business intelligence also demands promotion because it is still relatively new as a technical innovation so few business users know all the myriad ways BI can be leveraged. To effectively promote business intelligence, you first need to apply some marketing concepts to your BI deployment. Fail to do this first and at best you will have zero impact and at worst come across as a glorified technocrat trying to justify your existence." Promoting Your Business Intelligence Initiative, Cindi Howson, 8th October 2008. http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/8656. As any marketing guru would confirm, the success of any business depends on marketing. Marketing as a concept has to keep in mind various factors and has to be managed in a planned and strategic manner. In "Promoting Your Business Intelligence Initiative", , 8th October 2008, accessed on 3rd Nov,2008, http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/8656. Cindi Howson, states the following: "Marketing is about focusing on what customers need so providers can build better products they'll actually use. It's the strategy that goes into the BI application before you begin touting it as your company's killer app." In common terms, business intelligence can be described as the sum total of factors, which help take major decisions in any business. These factors include customers, competitors, business partners, economic environment and internal operations. Customers are the key to any business' success. The entrepreneur must make it a point to keep the customer's preferences in mind while designing a product. Again, geographical and cultural factors need to be given due importance while designing a product for a certain market. Business intelligence can be used to align businesses and products according to customers' preferences. Business Intelligence is used to collect data from customers within the marketplace. Customer surveys and polls are tools to gauge

Relationship Between Obesity and Socioeconomic Demographics

Relationship Between Obesity and Socioeconomic Demographics Chapter Five: Discussion The prevalence as well as the severity of obesity in adolescents is increasing at an alarming rate, making it one of the most serious health problems affecting this age group. In this study, a total of 161 adolescents (15.6%) were overweight and 224 ones(21.6%) were obese. A study conducted by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2000) showed thatapproximately 30% of adolescents were at risk for overweight and 14% were severely overweight or obese (Troiano and Flegal, 1999). In this study, the prevalence of overfat was 9.1% and obesity was 21.8%. A study conducted by Lee ea al. (2006) showed thatthe prevalence of total 555 adolescentboys were overfat (20.4%) and 8.3% were obese. In our study, prevalence of obese adolescents, according to both BMI and total fat, was higher than overweight;this could be attributed to high rate of fast food consumption among adolescents 72%. Fraser et al. (2012) conducted a study in the United Kingdom and observed anassociation between obese adolescents and fat food consumption. The prevalence of waist circumferences≠¥90th percentile in this study was 9.4%. This is consistent with Spain’s result, prevalence of waist circumferences≠¥90th percentile among adolescents was 11.6% (Schr à ¶der et al., 2014). Association between anthropometric measurements and socio-demographic characteristics: In our study, the BMI was significantly related to family income (p=0.004). About 25.7% of obese adolescents had families whose income was >800 JD after adjusting variables effects of results including age, smoking and physical activity. Shafaghiet al. (2014) studied the relationship between BMI and family income, 22.4% of obese adolescents were from families whose income was high. Total fat was significantly associated with adolescents age (p= 0.027). Adolescents aged ≠¥12 and ≠¤14 years old were more predictable to have high fat percentage (25.6%) than adolescents aged ≠¥ 15 and ≠¤17 years (18.9%).This finding was consistent with Northstoneet al. (2014). In our study, total fat was related to family income significantly (p=0.022). Kubiket al. (2003) conducted a study of 844 students; the study showed that students with high family income tended to consume sweetened beverages and high-fat snacks. Region affected significantly total fat among adolescents (p=0.049). The prevalence of obese adolescents were higher in middle area than north and south areas; that could be attributed to high fast food intake in middle area (48.2%) comparing to north and south areas (35.3% and 16.6%respectively). Limited data to explain relation between body fat content with father’s and mother’s education. Trunk fat was significantly associated with adolescents age (p= 0.027). Adolescents aged ≠¥12 and ≠¤14 years old were more predictable to have high trunk fat (15.4%) than adolescents aged ≠¥ 15 and ≠¤17 years (10.8%). Fox et al. (2000) reported thatadolescents aged 11- 13 years were associated with high trunk fat using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Association between blood pressure and socio-demographic characteristics: Blood pressure was significantly related to adolescents’ age (p0.01).This relation showed that 35.7% of adolescents aged ≠¥ 15 and ≠¤17 years had stage 2 HT compared to only 20.3% among adolescents aged ≠¥12 and ≠¤14 years old had stage 2 HT. Mouraet al. (2004) concluded a study on 898 adolescents,prevalence of elevated blood pressure in students aged ≠¥ 15 and ≠¤17 years was more than students aged ≠¥12 and ≠¤14 years. Effect of food categories on the prevalence of blood pressure among adolescents: Fruit and vegetables consumption were significantly related to blood pressure (p=0.008 and p=0.033 respectively). This finding was consistent with the findings of studies (Whelton et al., 1997, Whelton et al., 2005, Appel et al., 2006, Witham et al., 2009). Apple et al. (2006) studied the contents offruit and vegetables from vitamins, minerals and fibers. Fruits and vegetablesalso contained potassium;their increase in potassium intake was associated with significantly reduction in blood pressure. The increase in potassium intake had same lowering effect on blood pressure as decrease in sodium intake. Potassium had a major role in balancing out the negative effects of sodium. Wheltonet al. (1997) recommended potassium for prevention and treatment of hypertension. Increasing serum levels of vitamins A, C, E (Appel et al., 2006)and D (Witham et al., 2009)were associated with lowering blood pressure. Meta-analysis suggested that increasing the dietary fiber intake had a lowering effect o n blood pressure (Whelton et al., 2005).According to this study, chocolate was significantly related to blood pressure (p=0.013). Studies explained chocolate’s role to lower blood pressure (Fisher and Hollenberg, 2006, Karim et al., 2000, Taubert et al., 2007). Chocolate contained cocoa that include polyphenols specially flavanols. Strong effects of flavnols on blood pressure as a vasodilator were applied by increasing the formation of endothelial nitric oxide. Families’ health status effect on adolescent’s blood pressure: Father’s and mother’s health status was significantly associated with blood pressure in adolescent (p=0.002, p=0.022 respectively). Many studies (Din-Dzietham et al., 2007, Dasgupta et al., 2006, Martin et al., 2004) confirmed that family history of hypertension and cardiovascular disease were risk factors for elevated blood pressure among adolescents. Family history of obesity including fathers’ and siblings’ obesity was significant with adolescents’blood pressure (p=0.004 and p=0.048respectively).Falkner.(2010) reported a positive relation between blood pressure among adolescents and family history of obesity. Association between blood pressure and anthropometric measurements: Alton. (2005) considered hypertension one of obesity risk factors. Lu et al. (2013) conducted a study in China, and found out that the risk of elevated blood pressure prevalence was 1.5 folds in overweight children and was 2.2 folds in obese children. High BMI increased the risk of insulin resistance. Endothelial dysfunction and inflammation led to elevated blood pressure mediated bythe increase sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity (Tsioufis et al., 2011, Poirier et al., 2006). Our findings confirmed previous findings of high odds of stage 1 systolic hypertension among overweight adolescents 1.8 folds and 2.7 folds in obese adolescents, adjusting for confounding variables -age, smoking status and physical activity. Our result observed that adolescents with waist circumferences ≠¥90th percentile proportionally related to increase in blood pressure.Lu et al. (2013) reported a high significant association (p Increase in total body fat in our study was significant with increase in blood pressure proportionally. Pre-HTN, stage 1 HTN and stage 2 HTN were significant (p=0.009,p=0.004 and pet al. (2002)used DEXA and skinfolds to estimate total body fat and it’s relation asa predictor for blood pressure among adolescentboys unlike girls. Landsberg et al. (2013) explained that pathophysiology of fat accumulation in abdominal region led to an increase in blood pressure by increases in insulin secretion, (SNS) activity, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activity, angiotensinogen from intra-abdominal adipocytes, aldosterone production and renal sodium reabsorption. Our findings confirmed previous findings of high odds of stage1 systolic hypertension among adolescents with trunk fat ≠¥90th percentile had 4 times higher odds of having stage 1 systolic hypertension (CI 2.2, 7.1) and 5.5 higher odds of having stage 2 systolic hypertension (CI 3.4, 9.1). An association between adolescents visceral fat with blood pressure was observed among boys contrary girls (Pausova et al., 2012).Matsuzawa et al.(1995) explained increase that the in visceral fat to induce high level of free fatty acid excretion in liver via portal circulation after lipogenesis and lipolysis activity, gluconeogenesis, lipid synthesis and insulin resistance were response actions causedby excusive free fatty acid to induce hypertension and eventually atherosclerosis.Our results confirmed previous findings of high odds of stage 2 systolic hypertension among adolescents with visceral fat ≠¥90th percentile by 7.2 folds. Conclusion: The prevalence of total, truncal and visceral fat in our study were high. Excessfat,especially visceral fat significantly increased the risk for systolic blood pressure individually in older adolescents. The physiological relation between obesity and hypertension could not be attributed to a single factor. Factors that minimized the activity of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, sympathetic nervous system and renal sodium excretion had to be controlled, primarily the factors caused by excess fat. This finding based on measures of fat distribution and blood pressure in adolescent boys is important to help tracks cardiovascular risks from adolescence to adulthood. Strength of the Study This research has been conducted for the first time in Jordan to explain the prevalence and relationship between adolescents’ blood pressure and fat distribution. The study depends on data collected from a large sample that is representative to Jordan as a whole. Limitation of the Study An addition of a 24-hour recall form with this study combined with study’s FFQ could be more precise to estimate dietary and lifestyle habits among adolescents. Recommendations: Serious policies and actions for the sake of prevention, control weight and body fat specially as risks for elevated blood pressure, should be taken to apply an appropriate intervention on affected adolescents. Raise the schools’ role is for mass public enlightenment and health education on the threats of some nutritional behavior and lifestyle.

What Christmas Means To Me :: essays research papers

Christmas to me is a celebration, which includes spending time with my family, decorating the entire house, inside and out, and shopping, for the people I love. Doing this with the people I love is what means the most to me. Spending Christmas with my family is very important to me. We usually gather and celebrate at my parent’s house, in East Tennessee. My husband, our three children, and myself travel from California. My two sisters, their husbands, and children come from a nearby town, for our celebration. We spend the day baking cookies, making fudge and preparing a big Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings. The children love to see each other. They spend the day playing games and sharing their new gifts and toys that Santa Claus brought for each of them. They get so eager to decorate, that it is hard to restrain them.Decorating for Christmas is so much fun. My father always draws a new background scenery, for the Nativity scene, that he displays, every year. He, my brother-in-laws and my husband start with the decorations for the outside of the house and the front yard. Every year, my parents add a little more to the outside decorations. My mom, sisters, our children and myself decorate the inside of the house. My mom has so many indoor decorations that they can not all possibly be displayed. We try to change the decorations, which we put out every year. The men finish up just about the same time as, we women and then it is time to decorate the tree together. The children love this the most. The tree is always real, and is usually six to seven feet tall. Most of the ornaments have been collected over the years and are very old. They have become real family treasures. We all have a favorite one that we each put on the tree. All the children put their First Christmas ornament on the tree, that I brought, as a gift.I am not usually a shopper, but during the Christmas season, I actually enjoy shopping. I rarely go into department stores, but during the Christmas season, I love to shop. The stores are so beautifully decorated and very festive. I can easily get carried away, with spending so much money. I must admit the thought of spending too much money hardly comes to mind.

National Family Welfare Program

The institution of family is as old as man himself. It is the basic social cell. Sociologists and economists have always been propounding the ways to improve quality of life, which is difficult to achieve if the population remains unchecked. India launched a nation-wide Family Welfare Program in 1952, during the first five year plan, making it the first country in the world to do so. COMPONENTS The National family welfare Program in India has five components: A. Maternal and child health, extended to reproduction and child health care.B. Immunization of pregnant women by tetanus toxoid and that of children infant and preschoolers by BCG, oral polio , diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles. C. Nutritional supplement- Iron and folic acid to pregnant women and children. Vit. A to prevent blindness D. Contraceptive education and distribution free and social marketing i. e Contraceptive Nirodh, Oral Contraceptive i. e Mala D, copper –T and that of voluntary surgical contracepti on E. Health education on primary health care particularly motivation to accept contraception.Emphasis on vasectomy was made in the national program, currently spacing contraception is promoted. A. Maternal and Child Health{MCH} It relates to health of mother during pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal period and that of newborn and neo-natal health. Reproductive and Child Health (RCH)- relates to extended MCH with adolescent and post-menopausal woman’s health. The RCH package covers: 1. Pre-reproductive Adolescent years: Health care of adolescent girl including health promotion, safe age of marriage > 20 years, prevention of unsafe abortion and prevention of sexually transmitted disease (STD/AIDS) . Reproductive Years †¢Contraception. †¢Legal Abortion ( MTP) †¢Effective RCH care to ensure safe motherhood. Risk approach RCH care is streamlines Male involvement in RCH care is essential. †¢Effective nutritional education to all and services to the vulnera ble group. †¢Service to promote child survival. †¢Prevention and treatment of reproductive tract infection and sexually transmitted disease including HIV/AIDS high risk labor by automobile transport. †¢Prevention and treatment of gynecological problems menstrual disorders or infertility. 3. Post reproductive Years †¢Prevention and care of genital prolapse Education on menopause. †¢Screening and treatment of cancer especially cervical cancer. B. Immunization: Immunization to the mother and child was made one of the important approach. The WHO launched its Expanded program on immunization against six most common preventable childhood diseases, viz. diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, tuberculosis and measles. The government of India launched its EPI in 1978 with the objective to reduce mortality and morbidity resulting from vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood and to achieve self sufficiency, in the production of vaccine.UIP in India w as started in 1985. It has two vital components i. e. immunization of pregnant women against tetanus and immunization of children in their first year against the six targeted diseases. C. Nutritional supplement †¢Special Nutrition program: This program was started in 1970 for the nutritional benefit of children below 6 years of age, pregnant and nursing mothers and is in operation in urban slum, tribal areas and backward rural areas. The supplementary food supplies about 300 Kcal and 10-12 gms of protein per child per day.The beneficiary mothers receive daily 500 Kcal and 25 gms of protein. This supplement is provided to them for about 300 days in an year. †¢Balwadi Nutrition Program: This program was started in 1970 for the benefit of children in the age group 3-6 years. It is under the overall charge of Department of Social Welfare. The food supplement provides 300 Kcal and 10gms of protein per child. †¢Mid-day Meal Program: The program was started in 1961 with an o bjective to promote school admissions, prevent drop-outs and improve literacy of children. The food should be a supplement not a substitute. ?Should supply at least 1/3rd of total energy and half of total protein requirement. ?Economical. ?Should be such that can be easily prepared at schools. ?Locally available. ?Avoid monotony. †¢Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) ?Improvement of the nutritional and health status of children below 6 years of age, ? Basic service for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child, ? Reduction in the incidence of morbidity, mortality, malnutrition and school dropout, ?Effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development and ? Improvement of the capability of mother to look after normal health needs of the children. For achieving these objectives following steps were taken ?Supplementary Nutrition ?Immunization ?Health check-up ?Referral services ?Health and nutrition education ?Non-formal pre-school education. †¢Creches for the children of working or ailing mothers. †¢Welfare of Handicapped children ?Scholarships ?Model schools. ?Educational and rehabilitative services. Financial assistance to voluntary organization. ?Integrated education with normal children in ordinary schools. ?Training of teachers. ?Manufacture and development of special aids. ?Special employment exchanges. †¢The Under-five clinic. This type of service was developed to dispense preventive curative and promotive health services in a unified manner The Under-Five card consists of – record of weight, assessment of nutrition and necessary nutritional advice, Immunization, family planning advice, treatment of Illness. D. Contraceptive education and distribution:Contraception education received a new impetus with the creation of the Mass Education Media (MEM) division within the Department of Family welfare during the Inter-plan period of 1966-69. U nder free distribution schemes and the Social Marketing Program, contraceptives, both condoms and oral pills are sold at subsidized rates. E. Health Education on Primary Health Care. Health education on following components was given through various Health professionals. ?MCH care. ?Immunization. ?Nutrition supply and Education. ?Adequate supply of safe Drinking Water, Personal Hygiene and basic sanitation. Prevention and control of local endemics. ?Appropriate treatment of common diseases and Injuries LANDMARKS oFirst five year plan- (1952-1955)- †¢Establishment of few clinics ?Training and research was conducted. oSecond five year plan- (1961-1966)- †¢Integrated family planning †¢Health education activities and †¢Community development programs. oThird five year plan- (1961-1966)- ?Family was declared as â€Å"the very centre of planned development†. ?The emphasis was shifted from the purely â€Å"clinical approach† to the more vigorous â€Å"exte nsion education approach† for motivating the people for acceptance of the â€Å"small family norm†.Fourth Five year Plan- (1964- 1974)- †¢Family planning services were rendered through sub centers, PHCs and MCH and Family welfare centers. †¢All India Post Partum Program was started in 1970 to motivate mother for planning soon after delivery. †¢In 1972, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was implemented. oFifth Five Year Plan- (1974- 1979) – †¢Renamed as Department of Family Welfare. †¢Population control and Family Planning were made con current subject in January 1977 by the 42nd amendment of constitution. †¢1977- Program got a boost by the involvement of VHGs, Indigenous Trained Dais and local opinion leaders. Sixth Five Year Plan- (1980 – 1985) – †¢To attain Health For All by year 2000, through Primary Health Care Approach the Government accepted National Health Policy in 1983 which laid down following goals: ? Net Reproductive Rate : 1 ?Crude Birth Rate : 21/1000 live births ?Crude death rate : 9/1000 population ?Couple protection rate : 60% oSeventh Five Year Plan ( 1985- 1990) – †¢Department of family welfare was separated from Ministry of Health †¢Universal immunization Program, oral rehydration therapy and various other MCH programs.All these programs were brought together under the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Program (CSSM) oEighth Five Year Plan (1992 – 1997) – †¢Top priority to slower rate of population. †¢Focus on delivery of quality services and integration of other services. †¢April-96 – Target free approach was announced emphasised on providing quality services on demand based on the need of people. †¢RCH – launched, included; ?All components of safe motherhood programme with added components of RTI/STI. ?All components of Child Survival. ?Fertility regulation with a focus on quality care. Aims: To improve the management services at central, state, district and block level ? Seeks to attain holistic approach in implementation of this programme ? Focus on neglected geographical areas. ?Focus on previously neglected segments of population. oNinth Five Year Plan- (1997 -2002) – †¢Objectives – ?Reduction in population growth ?Meeting all felt needs for contraception ?Reducing IMR and MMR and Maternal Morbidity Rate so that reduced fertility rate is achieved. ?1997 -Target Free Approach was renamed as Community need Assessment Approach. ?A Comprehensive National Population Policy 2000 for achieving set goals and objectives.There has been significant decline in the mortality and fertility rates due to successive growth and development of family planning programe as shown in the following figure. CONCLUSION: The Family Planning Programme in India has come a long way and is considered as a way of life by most people. It can be seen from the figure that there has been an im pressive increase in the outlays in the successive plan period. But in reality the outlay for each plan falls short especially for taking up any new venture because most of the cost is utilized for maintaining the infrastructure.

Staff Development And Managing Technology

Staff Development And Managing Technology Staff development is a continuous plan in school that focuses on developing teachers’ knowledge, skills and strategies. The development programs aim at influencing teachers’ self understanding and their behaviors so as to influence the students. This happens because teachers have a direct contact with the students in their daily operations through the process of learning and teaching. The training is reinforced through continuous, classified, formal or informal plans.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Staff Development And Managing Technology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Personal development addresses specific teaching career issues (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-7). This paper seeks to explore the essence of staff development and technology change management in schools and also analyze the effectiveness of these components. Introduction It is important for an institution or organization to capitalize on t he staff’s abilities and potentials that arises from the shared responsibilities and the use of technology. This is because employees have the ability to improve their skills through self directed programs for development and trainings. However, whether or not it is an initiative of the school or company to have employees train, the staff has to be committed to learn and explore the learning opportunities. This is the only way in which the goals of the development plan can be achieved. Discussion The initial ability and comfort in using information technology to enhance staff skills and knowledge of content delivery in a learning environment may be a challenge. This is because of the various attitudes that are likely to emerge due to the different attitudes, beliefs and thoughts about the technology in use among individuals. The beliefs highly influence future intentions in the use of technology in the elementary education. Teachers can be given a chance to evaluate their ski lls against the parameters of the training program. A staff development practice in a school will foster personal development hence improve the overall performance in the institution. The proof for this can only be measured on improved results and achievements of students. The National Staff Development Council, NDSC advocates the improvement of professional efficiency in the teaching and learning process in order for all students to achieve their optimum results (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p. 312-314). Staff development not only aims at enhancing performances in school but also on enhancing workers’ attitudes towards work, positive motivation, creating strong relationships among the teachers and sharpening them on the acquire new skills and knowledge.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Staff development practices The fact that the training team has common values and long term goals; every member has to tolerate multiplicity and disagreements in order to learn as a group. There is also the need to cultivate essential and quality practices that will help achieve a successful implementation of the staff development strategy. Study group is one of these quality practices that reinforce the achievement personal development among employees. Teacher trainees can be assigned to look into a particular area where most of them have a problem in teaching discipline. The group carries an extensive analysis on the area through sharing of opinions and seeking clarifications from the instructor and consulting among themselves. It is one way of strengthening staff-staff relationship. The study group also facilitates sharing of experiences, skills and knowledge hence learning new techniques that will further be used in classrooms to teach the students (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p.312-314). In staff development programs trainees coach one other. Peer coaching is anothe r major program that teachers and instructors can undertake in efforts to enhance collaboration among them and overcome their differences. Collaborative practices encourage trust and openness among the teachers. Peer coaching also help the members to value each other and accommodate their diverse experiences, attitudes and behaviors. More so is because teachers have divergent attitudes and thoughts about change and improvement needful in meeting professional development. Peer coaching promotes teamwork other than working as an individual. It creates a forum for sharing successful experiences that facilitates career growth and support for colleagues in teaching profession (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-7). The idea of utilizing the teachers’ ability to use technology is not always an easy and one day event. Most learners are often concerned about the professional risks and changes that technology brings to education. This is because the learners must adapt to pressure while using t he computer aided instructions and also ensure maximum participation as an individual.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Staff Development And Managing Technology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This to some adults may mean avoidance or even fear while using technology hence failure in meeting the expected results (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p. 312-314). Some techniques may involve the use of net to carry out research and electronic projections to learn. Self direct learning can also be done though attending seminars in order to enhance an individual’s knowledge and skills. Staff development approaches for adults Professional Staff development strategies organize adults into learning communities with the goals of improving learning among the trainees of the program. Teachers, students and the administrators need this form of professional training that is far different from the traditional workshop- driven approa ch. It may involve an ongoing team that meets regularly on certain days and at a given time with the goal of conducting joint lesson planning and also methods of problem solving. The commitment in the learning process among these learning communities is to adhere to the norm of a continuous enhancement and experimentation in order to enhance their daily work and also achieve the school goals (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-7). My understanding of development approaches for adults have been reinforces due to various factors as argued below. Adults commit themselves to learning only when the objectives and goals are realistic and meet their needs. Therefore when designing such a professional program, it is important to conduct needs assessment program so as to achieve an effective professional development program. The belief that learning activities is challenge to adults’ competencies may contravene the professional development approach. This is because they are their own origin of education and will therefore reject learning activities on the belief of attacking their qualifications. The other reason is that these learners have differences in levels of learning experiences, interests, self-direction, and competencies. Professional development learning must relate to the individual’s day- day activities. If the approach is technical and hard to understand, then the probability of its unsuccessful application is high. The learners must also be given direct experiences and relevant examples so that they can apply the skills in real work (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p. 312-314). Strategies to implement this in classrooms should then be implemented to see to it that teachers accept the use of technology with their own abilities. They may design video formulated programs to use in classrooms while teaching. They also need a hand- on trial in order to utilize the acquired skill, develop units, and implement the program by themselves.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To sustain this skill, follow up is need. They get opportunities to participate in an ongoing discussion. They can also reflect on the necessary processes and procedures that bring in the expected change (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-7). The understanding for staff development and technology development has also been reinforced because of the knowledge that there exists a direct connection between the curriculum and technology in use. If the teachers his students excelling and having improvements, then there is a link. Professional development on technology use needs to illustrate projects on particular areas of the curriculum in use, the skills and assessment competencies. The use of Specific content helps the instructors to analyze, reflect on the ideas and the structure of the project. Good integrated training programs do not necessarily see the need to use technology in classrooms but also checks on the outcome of its application. There is a relation between staff development in sch ool and educational change. These changes may be in the form of new plans, strategies and or even cross- curriculum initiatives that enhance the school curriculum (Clerk Mayer, 2007. p.7-28). Staff development approaches and the use of technology Learning approach in staff development of adults must be guided by the adult learning theory. The theory asserts that adults require viable and distinct experiences with enough content support, frequent response to the practices done, continuous and sustained follow ups. Staff development and the use of technology are totally different from the traditional mode of training and education which only carry out workshops. Research shows that teachers comprehend well the content provided to them when reinforced for a long time as compared to workshops which conduct a single session. The devised staff development strategy undertaken should be a long term based implementation plan. This is because the teachers require an on going support while th ey develop their skills to obtain the objected skills and knowledge. Single trainings and workshops often results in ineffectiveness, waste of time, money and energy. Lecture-base trainings must be avoided by all means while developing the skills of an organization’s employees. It is important to note that this paper doe not aim at stating that traditional approaches of professional development did not succeed at but other improved ways of effectively training employees. An instructor must by all means avoid delivering the content of the program by just verbal words alone. However, a combination of both word and practice must be incorporated for optimum results. Professional development in adult education requires well formulated approaches. Workshops and presentations enhance attainment of new ideas and skills concerning a particular topic by giving direct instructions and also enabled participatory practices. This may be undertaken as the initial step towards attainment of professional development in adults. This is because the organized workshop acts a vehicle in introducing the participants to the strategies of gaining professional development. It may also helps in introducing the practitioners to the relevant knowledge or skills that they further put hands-on (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-7). The instructor must design a comprehensive and practical development plan to reinforce the learning abilities of the staff. Such a plan requires investment. Regardless of the difficulties at the starting time, the participants must show commitment to the learning process and later move from move from teacher trainees to competent professional with time. Benefits of staff development and use of technology use in schools Job rotation in teaching is an out dated and ineffective approach of staff development and should be replace with Computer Aided Instructions (CAI). Computers display instructions when one needs such assistance, play audio on demand. CAI is one of t he most effective approaches of staff development among adult trainees. Unlike CAI job rotation involves rotation of staff through various levels/classes in order to acquaint them with the technicalities at each level. Its efficiency is insignificant (Clerk Mayer, 2007. p.37). The effects of CAI are significantly noticeable because it allows teachers to put their practice the areas that concern them. A school’s technology plan should be designed to incorporate professional development and technology use. The reason for this is that the inclusion of technology in the school’s overall improvement plan helps improve learning and teaching processes in school. The integrated technology in the school curriculum must be sufficiently sustained so as to allow the instructors and administrators continue using technology in learning processes (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p.312-314). With technology, individuals get personalized instructions that enable the staff to actively partici pate in the learning process of their professional development as compared to the traditional job rotations. Technology grants educators diverse opportunities to improve their teaching skills which in turn increase the students’ ability and achievements in education. Learning and working together produces improved and better results than learning and working individually. This is because technology does not allow interactions rather it permits software socialization and collaboration via real time like discussion boards and emails (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-5). Technology in staff development allows the learners to try out the newly skill acquired during the workshop session, the trainees follow up by applying what they observe in workshop and give a feedback. This comes after the learner has rehearsed the details provided to have the data integrated in long term memory. Feedback approach provides the learners with information and response that relates to their performance. In case the learner wants to try out another skill acquired at the first stage then the research or inquiry approach may be applied. This approach ensures that the learners think about their daily operations in relation to the acquired skill. They reflect on their practices over time. On the same line, workshops and seminars can be arranged to discuss needs analysis and then collaboratively come up with curriculum development program reinforcement (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p. 312-314). With CAI, the process of learning takes place smoothly without boredom, fatique and impatience that is a common behavior in most ‘traditional classrooms. With Computer Aided Instructions, students receive immediate feedback. It also gives the students the ability to decide on the speed at which to receive instructions and content. Additionally, after the teachers have gone through staff development trainings using technology, the teachers is saved the energy of moving from one station to another wh ile giving same instructions to different students (Clerk Mayer, 2007. p.37). Technological staff development plans provide instructions that are tailored to the learners’ requirements. The learners send their responds to the instructor’s questions, if there is an error on the learners practice problem, the system will sends increased instructions to help the learner solve the problem. This system allows the learners to practice inputting data into the computer hence feedback practice. The practice continuous until they get the right answers as per the instructions. Contrary to as many may think, there is no one perfect professional development approach. From the discussion, multiple approaches may be integrated to solve dynamic issues related to particular program content and also as per the needs of the learner. The effectiveness of particular staff development program comes as a result of utilizing integration of different approaches to be use for different situati ons. Professional development for the staff comes with a variety of factors and not just adoption of one approach. It is important to connect program to the students learning in order to facilitate high –order thinking. The development plan should be designed to incorporate technology use. The reason for this is that the inclusion of technology in the school’s overall improvement plan helps improve learning and teaching processes in school. The integrated technology in the school curriculum must be sufficiently sustained so as to allow the instructors and administrators continue using technology in learning processes (Rodriguez, 2000, para. 3-7). During the learning process, there is need to divide the participants into small groups so that they can share, reflect together and finally generalize their learning experiences to achieve the desired results. This is different from the idea of having one individual analyzing, reflecting and evaluating about an idea and then practice the same alone. Training strategies must aim at passing skills and knowledge to an individual and the knowledge retained, then applied at work place creating for more opportunities to acquire skills. On certain programs, learner may have to keenly observe and master the graphs and words provided in order to use the data for the practice session. Culture and staff development Every successful staff training program faces several challenges from the existing cultural differences among the members of the school. The cultural components relate to the relationship between research and teaching and also in the nature of teaching. The context in which Personal and professional development takes place also influences its success. To begin with school timetable and schedule plans may limit the teachers in securing time for the joint planning. This is because the teachers have class responsibilities that they must fulfill to meet the administration’s requirements. For the set staff development plan to effectively progress and be a successful project the school has to have a flexible program to accommodate teachers’ development that fosters for the success of learning on students (Clerk Mayer, 2007. p.37). The other cultural limitation is the leadership system in the school. Principals and heads must support the initiatives for teachers’ development by allocating enough time for a continual learning process. The administration and management must also provide the required resources for the learning programs. If this is not the case, then it can be said that the leaders are not committed to the staff training session s and implementing the development plan. Successful implementation of an education change plan calls for good practices among all participants in professional development in order to achieve positive students’ progress (Thomson Holloway 1997, pg.312). Individual teachers’ development also encounters the culture of individualism. This is a common isolation practice among teachers that protects teachers from criticism and blame. Some teachers tend to concentrate on short time plans in their classrooms and avoiding discussing and committing time for the necessary changes that affect their daily practices. Individualism results into failure collaboration with fellow teachers through fear of criticism and judgments. This affects the process of meaningful feedback, their value and competencies. Individual attitudes towards the use of technology in education play a major role in determining the results of using technology to improve the staffs’ skills. It becomes a concern to the learners about their ability to grasp the skills of using technology itself while on the learning process. These attitudes vary among different individuals ranging from generic ‘motherhood beliefs’ to the apprehensiveness of technology. ‘Motherhood’ beliefs question about the positive value s that technology brings (Thomson Holloway 1997, pg.312). Culture dominantly influences the learner’s choices for the training program. For instance, certain beliefs limit one’s selection of some subjects. To resolve this, training has to be reflective of the educator’s ability to influence the choices of learner’s positively. Furthermore, culture determines who will take part in what training program. Oppressive cultures that are oppressive to women, limit a woman’s choice of a training program. Thus, the use of peer coaching or study groups of different gender in cultures where women should only learn limits the learning that that the participants of such programs acquire. These are some culture which can negatively affect any staff development in a school because there is generally lack of commitment for the training program. There are major benefits that accrue to staff training and development that can not be ignored. These benefits surpass t he above discussed thoughts, beliefs an attitudes associated with technology in adults learning. It is therefore imperative to ensure that beyond these cultural challenges, the main objective of the professional development program is successfully implemented. The other idea that emerges in addition to the above discussion is the confidence of teachers of practicing the new skills like computer use knowledge. To all the teachers who use internet to research and later write research reports, the probability is that they struggle with lack of self confidence. The learners may never be confident about how well they were prepared to practically use technology while teaching. This is a major set back of using while implementing a development strategy to improve the staffs’ pre- service programming skills. This program may also increase anxiety among the group of how they will be using technology in classrooms upon their students (Thomson Holloway, 1997, p. 312-314). Conclusion An effective professional development program is an ongoing process and not a single instance application. Teachers need to continually practice the technology in use comfortably and in a professional manner. Significant changes in the school may take place after several years. This allows for the teachers enough time to comprehend integrated and master the new information and approaches into their daily practices. It is clear that, an instructor must be able to evaluate the approach he chooses for professional development. This is an intentional reflective practice that any instructor who aims at succeeding must do in order to refine the approach. This is more often done at the presentation stage so as to encourage the educators to reflect on the situation and then formulate other viable solution to the learner’s problem. Hand in hand with this kind of reflective approach is observing the educator through video or class attendance. Reference List Clerk, R. Mayer, R. (2007). E -learning and the science of instruction: proven guidelines of consumers and designers of multimedia learning: U.S, John Wiley and sons. Web. Rodriguez, G. (2000). Critical issue: providing professional development for effective technology use. Web. Thomson, J. Holloway, D. (1997). Staff development and a culture of collection in a primary school. Teacher development. Vol. 1, No. 2, Routledge: Routledge.

Television Violence and its effect on Children

Television Violence and its effect on Children The children of today are surrounded by technology and entertainment that is full of violence. It is estimated that the average child watches from three to five hours of television a day! (Neilson 1993). Listening to music is also a time consuming pastime among children. With all of that exposure, one might pose the question, 'How can seeing so much violence on television and video games and hearing about violence in in music affect a child's behavior?' Obviously these media have a big influence on childrens' behavior: we can see it in the way they attempt to emulate their favorite rock stars by dressing in a similar style and the way children play games, imitating their favorite cartoon personalities or super heroes. Studies have shown that extensive television viewing may be associated with, aggressive behavior, poor academic performance, precocious sexuality, obesity, and the use of drugs or alcohol (Deitz). Television, video games, and music are very influential and if there is t oo much violence available for children to watch, play, or listen to, this can sway their attitudes in a negative direction.No Video GamesTelevision is especially influencial on the children today. The hard truth is that children spend an average of 28 hours a week in front of the television (Neilson 1993). This is almost two times the amount of time that some children are in school. At this very impressionable age it is no wonder that the images that kids see sometimes has a profound impact on their behavior. Fifty-five percent of children watch television with a friend or alone. (TV-Free America). Too often parents assume that their children are responsible enough to choose suitable programming. But the sad fact is that even some shows deemed as "children's television" are violent. A survey in Mediascope showed that a...

Math Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Math - Essay Example help students have good economic life in future, that is, be employed and deal with life issues such as handling money, interacting with other people, and be well conversant with spiritual life (Peter, 2001). The other aspect of education is to produce a person who is physically, morally, and spiritually upright. All these should be instilled through teaching of mathematics. This paper therefore emphasizes on how mathematics leads to spiritual development. Mathematics as a subject is normally used by people to give a better understanding of very great things including description of natural phenomena normally use mathematics as a subject, how they occur in the world. For instance, knowledge of probability may make a person tell whether it would rain the next day or not (winter, 2000). Even explanation on the depths of ocean waters, heights of mountains and calendar of the days. All these descriptions require the knowledge of mathematics. Mathematicians are philosophers on their own since they can sit and think how great things came into existence there giving an insight to occurrence of infinite things of the world (Downes, 1997). As a matter of understanding wonders and infinite things, mathematics teachers apply the methods of using surprises in order to make complicated things become real. For example, Movshovits Hadar (1988) argues that using the concept of Pythagoras theorem in bringing ideas of squaring sides of a right-angled triangle is a surprise to students. Mathematics has been used to promote spiritual development in learners. This can be clearly explained in terms of religion, philosophy and science that attempt to explain how Christians are linked with charity and social justice through mathematics. The origin of mathematics can be traced back from great philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato who through rational thinking did a lot in the field of mathematics. According to Morshovits (1988) mathematics play a spiritual function by providing a

Maritime law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Maritime law - Coursework Example This is the absolute duty that the ship or the vessel owner owes to the seamen who are involved in the voyage, for the protection of any risk that might face their lives emanating from the unworthiness or lack proper maintenance of the ship. Thus, if any event of collision or accident occurs in the sea, due to the un-seaworthiness of the ship or the vessel, then the owner of the ship or the vessel is liable for the damage, and the appropriate liabilities shall befall the owner3. This includes the liabilities of all the damages incurred on the cargo, the seamen or the other ships or vessels that could have collided with the unseaworthy ship or the vessel, during the course of their voyage. Among the cardinal duty of the ship or vessel owner is to provide a seaworthy ship or vessel. The doctrine of seaworthiness is the cardinal principle of the Maritime law, considering that the issue of seaworthiness of a ship or a vessel directly affects the liabilities of various stakeholders in the Maritime Law, who may include the liability of the carrier, the marine insurance and the environment4. The concept of seaworthiness of a ship or a vessel is provided under the law, as the presence of all pipes, pumps, heater coils and all the other components of the ship or the vessel, which are in good working order. Thus, the law is further interpreted to mean that the fundamental responsibility of the ship or the vessel owner, which he owes to the seamen; both operating the ship he owns or the seamen operating other ships or vessels on the water body, is to ensure that the ship or the vessels are fit to undergo the hazards of the sea, or any other incidental risk that may occur along the voyage, which the ship or the vessel might be exposed in the course of the voyage, without necessarily having such risks being contributed in any way, by the un-seaworthiness of the ship or the vessel6. This being the case, the owner of the ship bears all the liability in case of an accident, co llision, damage or injury occurring to the vessels, the ship or the seamen, which emanates from any aspect of the ship being unworthy for the sea voyage. However, as s reprieve to the owner of the ship or the vessel to be involved in a voyage, the concept of seaworthiness of the ship or the vessel was lessened only to include the worthiness of that ship or vessel, at the start of the voyage2. Therefore, while there are many instances that may arise where a vessel could be identified as being unseaworthy, the only liability that the owner of the ship or the vessel can bear, is that of the ship or the vessel being unseaworthy at the start of the voyage, while the other aspects of un-seaworthiness, which might occur in the course of the voyage, are deemed incidental and thus the liability is assessed differently3. According to the provisions of the Maritime law, there are several conditions that may constitute the un-seaworthiness of the ship or the vessel in voyage. First, a stowage w hich may affect in any way the safety of the ship or the vessel is considered unseaworthy, and thus constitutes the un-seaworthiness condition of the ship or the vesse7. Secondly, any deficient systems ashore or on board the ship or